Rotary snowplow



May 27, 19:52

M. GARLAND ROTARY SNOWPLOW 3 Sheds-Sheet 1 Filed April 6. 1945 May 2 7, 19,52 M. GARLAND 2,598,249

ROTARY sNowPLow Filedlprl 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 2542 'y l l1| May 27, 1952= M, GARLAND 2,598,249

ROTARY sNowPLow Filed April e, 1945 3 sham-sheet s Patented May 27, 1952 UNETED STATES PTENT CFFICE ROTARY SNOWPLOW Mather Garland, Mound, Minn.

Application April 6, 1945, Serial No. 586,857

2 Claims.

This invention relates to power-operated plows of the rotary type adapted for use in moving and centrifugally discharging snow or other material from the surfaces of roadways, elds, and the like. While the invention is herein illustrated in connection with a relatively large plow adapted to be moved forwardly by a traction vehicle such as a truck or tractor, and while some phases of the invention hereof are peculiar to this relatively large variety of plow, certain phases of the instant invention are, nevertheless, applicable to other varieties of rotary plow, such, for example, as to the relatively small manually-guided plow structure of my co-pending application executed of even date herewith Serial Number 585,527 and bearing title Rotary Snow Plow, now Patent No. 2,536,166.

A broad object of the present invention is the provision of a plow of so-called rotary type which can be constructed at relatively low cost, will require a minimum of mechanical servicing, and which will move and discharge more snow or other material per unit of power consumed than is possible with products of the prior art.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of an improved blower construction for rotary snow plows, wherein the tendency to choke the rotor, stall the driving engine or motor, or break the parts is greatly reduced, and to this end the rotary blower herein illustrated involves a number of important features, among which are the following, to wit:

a. The rotor, which is disposed on an axis extending substantially forwardly and rearwardly of the plow, involves a circumferentially spaced series of blades that extend approximately radially and longitudinally of the rotor axis and these blades and the blower casing enclosing the same are made comparatively very much deeper axially of the rotor as compared to the blades of prior art rotors, whereby snow or other material fed rapidly into the mouth of the blower will be radially discharged from the rotor blades before it reaches the back of the rotor and has an opportunity to become packed and produce a choking action on the rotor;

b. To the above end, the improved rotor, which is disposed on an axis extending substantially forwardly and rearwardly of the plow, is provided with a circumferentially spaced series of radially and forwardly and rearwardly extending blades having leading edges that are generally directed forwardly and radially inwardly, whereby to dene a rotor having a front end of generally conical shape. The importance of this feature lies in the fact that deeply banked and heavily packed snow or other material encountered by the rotor will be engaged first by the most forwardly projecting portions of the rotor blades located closest to the axis of the rotor where the power of the rotor is greatest, and by the time the radially outer portions of the blades engage the tightly packed snow or other material the core or center portion thereof will have been bored out to the extent that there will be a tendency of the mass to collapse rather than to form a rigid bridge across the face of the blower; and

c. Another feature leading to the improved eiliciency noted above is the provision of teeth on the leading edges of the rotor blades, and which feature is particularly important in combination with features a and b above. Preferably, the teeth on the radially inwardly and forwardly directed leading edges of the blades are curved in the direction of rotation of the blades for the purpose of accelerating the rate of rearward movement of the material axially of the rotor to thereby more evenly distribute the same over the axial depth of the rotor blades to further reduce the tendency to choke the rotor.

As another important feature of the invention, I mount the rotor and rotor casing independently and at spaced places on a structure having suicient resilience to permit a relatively small, but nevertheless, very important, approximately radial movement of the rotor with respect to its casing, whereby when the load pressure between the rotor and rotor casing at any point about the circumference of the casing becomes excessive the rotor will move radially away from the rotor casing at the point of congestion and thereby relieve the congestion and prevent or greatly reduce the tendency to stall the rotor under such conditions.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an improved rotor and rotor mounting construction involving a shear-pin and shear-pin retaining means.

The above and other highly important objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.

In the drawings, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the plow. also showing a portion of the propelling vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of said plow;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 5, as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 4 is for the most part a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, a portion of the same being shown in horizontal section taken substantially on line 6--4 of Fig. 2, as indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. is a horizontal section taken substantially on line 5-5 of 1Fig. 2, as indicated by the arrows, the same being shown on an enlarged scale.

In the drawings, a snow plow of general V-type is shown comprising a central cutting plate or blade it. This blade or plate is disposed centrally of the plow and extends in an upward direction, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The lower portion of blade I@ extends forwardly at a rather sharp angle to the horizontal, as shown at Illa, and blades or plates II extend outwardly and rearwardly respectively from the portion Ida. A pair of moldboards I2 are provided which extend outwardly and rearwardly from central plate Il) or the center line of the plow and the sides of these moldboards aline with the outer side edges of the `plates I I, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The moldboards |2 as usual are somewhat concave on their front surfaces, as clearly shown in the drawings, particularly Fig. 4. boards I2 are provided at their upper edges with reinforcingVT flanges I3. These flanges are connected by a sector-shaped gusset plate It having a forwardly directed pointed portion disposed at the top of plate l0, said gusset plate being dis- Y posed symmetrically with relation to plate lo. A plurality of bracing bars I5 are secured to the rear of moldb'oards i2, which moldboards will be formed 'of a curved plate. A frame bar ll, which may be in the form of an angle bar, as shown in Fig. l, extends transversely of the plow adjacent the lower portion thereof in the rear of and `beneath an intermediate portion of the moldboards I2. A pair of ground-engaging members in the form of skid shoes i8 are provided, the

same being secured to frame bar I'i in any suitable manner as by bolts or welding. The shoes I3 have rear portions Ita adapted to engage the ground or supporting surface and have forwardly projecting portions Ib having their lower sides disposed somewhat above the supporting surface. The shoes also have vertical portions |80 disposed just in front of bar I'I. Plates I9 are connected by suitable rivets or bolts to portions ib and |'8c and are also suitably connected to the rear or underside of moldboards I2 in any suitable manner. Eye bolts 22 are shown secured adjacent the outer ends of bar |'l, the same being equipped with nuts 23 below said bar. Cables 2d are secured respectively to eyebolts 22 and extend upwardly and rearwardly therefrom and pass over sheaves 25 carriedV on the upper ends of plunger rods 26 of hydraulic lifting jacks, the cylinders of which are indicated by 21. The cylinders 2l of the lifting jacks are each disposed between an opposite pair of `plate-like elements 28 forming part of an auxiliary frame structure that is rigidly carried by the frame 29 of a power-driven vehicle 3o. The other ends of the cables 24 are anchored to the vehicle 30, as by bolts 3| secured each toa plate 28 of an opposite pair of said plates. The upper ends of plates 28 of each pair thereof are rigidly-connected by rivets or the like as at 33, and said opposite pairs of plates are located adjacent opposite sides of the front end of the vehicle 3B. Brace rods l32 extend rearwardly, one from each pair of plates 28 along its respective side of the vehicle, and are anchored at their rear endstothe vehicle frame 29 at 34. The above noted auxiliary frame structure com- The moldof the chute.

prises, in addition to plates 28 and cross bar Esa., plate-like auxiliary frame elements 30a rigidly anchored to opposite sides of the vehicle frame 2S and to the cross member 29a, a short cross member 3G19, and apertured anchoring clips or brackets 35 depending from cross bar 3th.

Push bars 3l, having upwardly extending apertured anchoring lugs 31a, are pivotally connected to the brackets 35 by pivot bolts 38 passed through apertures in members 35 and 31a.. These push bars el, cf which there are two located adjacent opposite sides of the vehicle, are suitably rigidly connected to the plow structure at their forward ends and are intermediately cross connected by a cylindrical cross member 29h.

One of the moldboards |2, specically that shown at the left in Fig. 2, is apertured to have disposed therein a snow cutting, moving, and discharging rotor 40. A blower casing 4| of general cylindrical form surrounds the rotor 4i) and thus extends rearwardly from the front of the moldboard, said casing having at the outer side thereof, direct-ly behind the constriction-producing deiiector |219, an upwardly extending tangential discharge spout 42 which is rectangular in cross section, as shown in Fig. e, and which iiares upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. A snow discharging spout or chute 43 is secured to the top of spout i2 by screws or rivets 44, and chute i3 is shown as curving transversely over the top of the plow and extending to one'side thereof. Chute :33 has parallel sides connected by a top 43a, and said sides taper in width, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the same tapering to a point at the outer end Chute 43 is supported by vertical bars 45 secured to its opposite sides respectively in any suitable manner as by bolts or rivets 43. Bars 45, which may be of any suitable form and are illustrated as angle bars, extend downwardly and are secured to the frame of the plow in any suitable manner. Therearmost bar 45 is conveniently connected to the angle bar Il extending transversely inthe rear of the moldboards, and the other bar 5 could be'connected to one of the brace bars i5. Alternatively the chute `43 could be directed to the opposite side of the plow, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. '2. y

The moldboard I2 lin which the rotor 4B is disposed has surfaces |20. above the rotor which slope inwardly toward the rotor so as to move the snow thereinto. A plate or deector |2b is disposed at the outer side of rotor i2 and this 'has its forward end directed inwardly -at -an angle toward the rotor. It will be seen from Figs. 2 and 5 that the delector |212 extends inwardly of the peripheral wall of casing 4| and somewhat inwardly of the periphery of the rotor 40 and thereby constricts theintake opening or mouth of the casing. The moldboard belowv the rotor 40 slopes upwardly and inwardly and the surface of the moldboard at the inner r side of the rotor slopes rearwardly so that all of the surfaces surrounding the rotor act to move the snow into the rotor.

The rotor il has a central hub'ja which is elongated forwardly to form in eifect a sleeve` 48o. A rear plate 49d extends outwardly from hub fica and while this could be variously formed or attached, in the embodiment of the inven tion as illustrated it is shown as integral with hub lita.. As shown in Fig. -2, this plate 42d is hexagonal in shape. Casing 4I also has a rear wall or plate Ia closely adjacent plate Mld and the wall Hal has a rather large central opening therethrough. Hub 40a `has Vextending voutward'- ly therefrom radially a plurality of circumferentially spaced ribs 40e. These ribs extend along sleeve 40h and also along the front of plate 46d. A plurality of plates or blades 40)c aresecured respectively to the ribs 40e. Plates 4U! have inner sides secured to ribs 40e by the bolts or rivets 46g and said plates or blades have rear edges engaging plate 46d, said edges being secured to the ribs 40h by the .bolts or rivets 46g. Plates 48j are thus secured along their inner and rear edges. As shown in Fig. 5, casing 4| is rather deep and the plates or blades 40j are of considerably greater dimension in length than in radial width. Blades 40f are provided at their forward portions with circumferentially spaced teeth 46h, which teeth are provided with sharp points, the center lines of which are directed inwardly at a substantial angle to the axis of the rotor, and it will be noticed that the teeth closer to the axis project forwardly farther than the teeth more remote from said axis. The blades 48]* are curved slightly at the portions thereof having the teeth 46h thereon, which curvature is in the direction of rotation of rotor 433. Blades 40j may be reinforced by angle bars lili secured along their sides in any suitable manner as by bolts `or rivets 407'. A shaft 56 is provided, the forward protion of which extends through and ts in the bore of hub 46a and its sleeve 46h. The outer end of said shaft is reduced in diameter and threaded and a washer 50a is held thereon by a bolt 50h. The washer 53a is of greater diameter than the bore in sleeve 40h and would prevent said sleeve and the rotor from moving olf of shaft 50K. A headed pin 41 extends through hub 46a and shaft 56 and the head thereof is engaged by a cotter pin 48 extending through alined holes in a pair of the ribs 40e and the blades 40j, as shown in Fig. 3. Cotter pin 48 thus holds the pin 41 in place. A gear and clutch casing or housing 5| is provided, the same having a lug 5|a secured by a headed bolt 52 to a bar 53 supported from bar |1. Said casing has an annular flange 5|b at one end which is connected by headed bolts 53a to the frame or casing of a motor 54. Motor 54 is supported upon suitable frame bars or brackets 55 secured to frame bar |1 and extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. While motor 54 could be of various types, an internal combustion engine or motor has been found to be satisfactory. Casing 5| has a tapered portion surrounding shaft 56, to one end of which is secured by headed bolts 51 a anged collar 58. The end of said tapered portion is apertured to receive shaft 5l) and is counter-bored to have disposed therein a bearing 59 for shaft 50, said bearing being illustrated as of the ball type. Shaft 50 is shown as provided with an integral collar 50c engaging the inner side of the ball bearing 59. Casing 5I has an inwardly projecting flange or rib 5| c which is bored to have disposed and secured therein a ball bearing 6|! for shaft 50. At the rear side of bearing 6 shaft 50 has secured thereto a beveled gear 6I, the hub of which engages bearing 661. Shaft 56 has an integral collar 50d thereon engaging the forward side of bearing 6|). Beveled gear 6| meshes with the beveled pinion 62 secured to a shaft 63 journalled in a bearing 5|d of casing 5| and in a bearing secured in an apertured side of casing 5|, which side is closed by a flanged cap 5|e secured by bolts 65 to casing 5|. Pinion 62 engages the hub of a spur gear 66 also secured to shaft 63 and with which meshes a spur pinion 61 secured to a clutch shaft 68` 6 journalled in bearings 69 disposed in a hub of casing 5| and held therein by a threaded plug 10. Pinion 61 is held on shaft 68 by a Washer 1| held in place by a nut 12 threaded on shaft 68. A portion of a clutch 14 is shown and is secured to shaft 68. A cap 5If has a portion tting into an aperture in casing 5| and is held in place by a stud 16 threaded into a portion of casing 5|. Casing 5I is additionally secured in place by a headed bolt 11 extending through a lug 5|g and into a suitable support. Clutch 14 will be engaged and disengaged by a clutch pedal secured to the driving shaft of motor 54 in the usual and well-known manner. A fuel supply conduit 86 is shown extending from motor 54 to a suitable supply tank on vehicle 36. Vehicle 36 will be usually an automotive truck or tractor supported upon tire-equipped wheels 36o.

AIn operation motor 54 will be operated and the plow will be propelled along the road or field to be cleared by vehicle 30. The plow will rest upon the skid shoes I8 which will support most of the weight thereof. The plates will be substantially in contact with the surface to be cleared and will move therealong. The plow can be raised to be moved from place to place when not in operation by means of the fluid-operated plungers 26. Suitable fluid, such as liquid or air, will be turned into the cylinders 21 so as to elevate plunger rods 26 and the sheaves 25. This will pull upon the cables 24 and lift the plow. The push bars 31 will swing about the pivot bolts 38. As the plow is pushed forward the material such as snow which is to be moved will be engaged by plates and by the moldboards I2. The material is moved outwardly along the moldboarcls by the curvature thereof. The snow at the side of the plow having the rotor 40 will be engaged by the blades 401 and the teeth 40h thereon. The snow'will first be engaged by the teeth 46h nearest the axis of the rotor. As the plow moves forward the teeth farthest from the axis of the rotor will then also engage the snow. This successive engagement of snow or other material first by the radially innermost teeth 40h and subsequently by the radially outermost teeth 40h is particularly important in going through deep banks of hard packed snow or analogous material, in that it prevents bridging of the snow or the like across the interior of the rotor casing. The teeth 46h are sharp and pointed and will act to effectively cut and break up any hard material such as frost, ice, frozen snow, etc. before it passes through the rotor casing. As stated,

the teeth 40h are curved slightly in the direction of rotation of rotor 40 which rotates, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The teeth 46h thus have a slicing effect and tend to cut or slice into the snow orfrozen material. The material at the side of the plow having the rotor therein is moved toward the rotor by the surface of the moldboard including the surfaces |2a and I 2c. The front end of the rotor, as stated, cuts the snow or other material and starts it in motion toward the rear of the rotor casing 4|. As the snow or other material travels toward the rear of said casing the rotation of the rotor increases the velocity of the snow or other material and the centrifugal force causes it to move radially of the blades 46j until it reaches a point'where it is discharged through'the chute 42. The rotor revolves at high speed and the snow is projected through the 'spout 42 and into the chute 43 at high'velocity so that it travels along-the top 43 of the latter and is guided to one side of the plow- 7 by said top and discharged at said side. As above pointed out, the front end of plate or deiiector |2b extends inwardly of the periphery of the rotor, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. As shown in Fig. 5, the blades 40j project radially beyond the inner edge of deector plate [2b to form a space into which the snow can expand after passing the edge of plate 12b and this expansion tends to keep the snow loose and prevents packing of the snow in casing 4l. The rotor is efficiently driven from motor 54 through the gears 6'1. 66, 62 and 6l, and this drive is direct and positive and effected without the use of universal joints. The pin 41 will be suiciently fragile to shear off in oase excessive stress is placed upon the rotor blades 40j. The snow at one side of the central cutting plate l0 is thus discharged through the chute 43. The snow at the other side of plate l0 will be moved by the moldboard I2 and formed into a window at the outer side 9 of said moldboard. The driving gears for rotor 4B are effectively protected by casing 5l, which casing can contain a suitable lubricant. It will be noted that motor 54 is disposed largely at the opposite side of plate I0 from rotor 4t. A good balance on the plow transversely thereof is thus maintained. The depth and diameter of the rotor housing are determined by the amount of horsepower of the motor'd. A plow with a u motor of 75 horsepower will drive a rotor 36 inches in diameter and 24 inches deep. A motor of 200 horsepower will drive a rotor in a rotor housing which is more than 24 inches deep and more than 36 inches in diameter. of blades on the rotor can be varied as desired. The plow thus is `moved along the road or field and removes a portion of the snow and forms a windrow. On the next trip the side of the plow having the rotor therein can b e moved along through the windrow so that the snow in the windrow and a zone at either side thereof will be removed.

In practice, it has been found that the rotor of the present plow is exceptionally eflicient and will handle a larger volume of snow or similar material per minute per unit of energy consumed than will conventional rotors used for this purpose, and some of the important features of my novel design which result in this improved efficiency are as follows, to wit:

a. The use of rotor blades of unusual axial depth with respect to radial length (preferably of as great or greater axial depth than Vradial length, but not less than two-thirds as deep as L long) is an important contributing factor to the over-all efciency of the rotor in that when snow or the like is moved rapidly into the mouth of the rotor casing, as when encountering a snow bank, the blades will have ample oppordischarge, and greatly reduce the resistance to s rotary motion of .the blades as compared to blades with unbroken -or -smooth leading edges, thereby further reducing the power Yrequired to handle a given amount of :material in .a given period of time;

The number e c. Because the rotor teeth 48h on the radially innermost edges of the rotor blades extend axially forward of the teeth 40h closer to the radially outer ends of the blades, hard banks of snow and the like are progressively engaged rst by the radially inner blades where the driving force is the greatest, and then by the radially outer blades where the driving force is essentially less. This progressive engagement of the snow further reduces the power required to drive the rotor under certain conditions for the reason that it prevents or greatly reduces the tendency to completely bridge the mouth or mouth and interior of the blower casing with tightly packed material to be moved;

d. The structure between the points of driving connection between the motor power takeoi shaft and the rotor shaft 50 and also between the rotor casing 4l and the rotor shaft 50 are resilient and yieldable to an extent to permit approximate radial movements between the rotor and its casing under excessive load conditions. This permits the blades of the rotor 4B to be moved slightly away from the casing at the point of excessive load to automatically provide for the desirable additional clearance during such conditions.

From the above description, it will be seen that I have provided a comparatively simple and very efdcient plow which will quickly and effectively remove snow or other material from a surface. It will be obvious that the device will have a high degree of utility for the purpose intended.

It is further important to note that the rotor is slightly eccentric to the rotor casing; the space beween the circle described by the tips of the rotor blades 46j and the peripheral wall of the rotor casing being at minimum at a point approximately forty-five degrees (45) from a vertical plane extending through the axis of the rotor in the direction of rotation of the rotor and increasing from such point in the direction of rotation of the blades toward the tangential outlet. In other words, the space between the circle described by the rotor blades and the inner periphery of the blower casing is greatest at a point directly forwardly of the tangential outlet passage. This feature is important in that it provides for a gradually increasing clearance between the blades and casing from the time they pick up a load until they discharge the same and thereby further reduces the tendency to clog and bind the rotor under excessive load conditions.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a rotary plow, a pair of rearwardly and outwardly flaring moldboarcls, a rotor casing mounted on and opening forwardly through one of said moldboards, a multi-blade rotor in said rotor casing on a substantially horizontal axis extending generally longitudinally of the plowl a motor having a power take-oir shaft mounted back of the other of said moldboards and disposed transversely with respect to a longitudinal center line through the plow, a rotor shaft supported :from said motor and having driving connections with the motor power take-off shaft, the structure between the points of driving connection between said motor power take-off shaft and said rotor shaft and between said rotor casing and rotor shaft being sufficiently resilient to permit of approximate radial movements between the rotor and casing under excessive load conditions, whereby the rotor blades may move away from the casing at the point of excessive load to automatically provide additional clearance during such conditions.

2. In a rotary plow, a pair of rearwardly and outwardly aring moldboards, a rotor casing mounted on and opening forwardly through one of said moldboards, a multi-blade rotor in said rotor casing on a substantially horizontal axis extending approximately longitudinally of the plow, a motor mounted back of the other of said moldboards and disposed transversely with respect to a longitudinal center line through the plow, a. combined clutch and gear housing rigidly carried by the motor, said rotor being mounted on the projected end portion of a rotor shaft journalled in said combined clutch and gear housing, and driving connections between said rotor shaft and motor comprising gears and clutches located in said housing, the structure between the points of motor and housing mounting and said rotor casing being suiciently resilient to permit of approximately radial movements between the rotor and casing under excessive load conditions, whereby under such ex- 10 cessive load conditions the rotor blades may move away from the casing at the point of excessive load to automatically -provide additional clearance and reduce the tendency to stall the motor.

MATHER GARLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 395,548 C'orbett Jan. 1, 1889 1,387,576 Worth Aug. 16, 1921 1,483,080 Currie Feb. 12, 1924 1,483,586 Larson Feb. 12, 1924 1,490,585 Brewczynski Apr. 15, 1924 1,563,920 Peters et a1 Dec. 1, 1925 1,822,827 Shappell Sept. 8, 1931 2,024,551 Thornhill Dec. 17, 1935 2,137,321 Austin Nov. 22, 1938 2,152,200 McCulley Mar. 28, 1939 2,281,289 Hewitt Apr. 28, 1942 2,315,007 Morse et al Mar. 30, 1943 2,536,166 Garland Jan. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 60,500 Norway Feb. 27, 1939 62,379 Sweden Feb. 15, 1927 

